WISE - - In what was the lowest scoring game in Carl Smith Stadium history, visiting Tusculum held off UVA Wise 10-9 in South Atlantic Conference football action Saturday afternoon.
UVA Wise (1-6, 0-5) was driving in an effort to kick a potential game-winning field goal when the clock struck zero. However, the ending was not without controversy.
Juwan Dent completed a 10-yard pass to Daniel Davis to the Tusculum 25 with under 10 seconds remaining. The receiver who finished the day with a career-best 127 receiving yards quickly tossed the ball to the umpire in an attempt to setup a spike of the football. The umpire would drop the ball and as the ball bounced away the clock ticked down to zero.
The officials ruled the game was over and set off a celebration for Tusculum ( 6-1, 4-1 SAC) who won its fourth consecutive game to remain at the top of the Mountain Division.
The game featured six turnovers with each team throwing three interceptions in a contest that was controlled by each school's defense.
UVA Wise held a 357-to-255 advantage in total yards while the Cavs held the Pioneers to 114 passing yards.
Dane Damron's team jumped out front first when Kellan Dalton connected on a 33-yard field goal to cap a 14-play, 61-yard scoring drive at the 8:49 point of the first quarter.
A drive later, Cortney Jackson darted in from three yards out to finish off an 8-play, 62-yard scoring drive to give Tusculum a 7-3 advantage.
Dalton's second field goal of the game came with 7:18 to play in the opening half to send the game to halftime with the Pioneers in front 7-6.
The only points of the second half came when Juan Villasenor of Tusculum kicked a 30-yard field goal and Dalton matched it with a 30-yarder.
Markel Dailey led the Cavs defense with nine tackles and the sixth interception of his career. Job Whalen and Patrick Taylor also picked off passes for UVA Wise.
Trey Trawick tied Dailey for game-high tackle honors with nine to pace Tusculum as he added a forced fumble and a pass break up to his stat line.
Adrian Robinson, Ty'Korian Brown and Andrae Robinson all picked off a pace for a Pioneers defense that has now forced 19 turnovers this fall.
Julian Edwards carried the ball 22 times for 74 yards for UVA Wise while Dent was 26-for-57 with 264 passing yards in his first collegiate start.
Maurice Gomillon led a quartet of Pioneer backs with 62 yards to spearhead a rushing effort that tallied 141 yards. Tre Simmons was limited to 11-of-27 passing for 114 yards and three interceptions in the victory.
With the win, Tusculum takes a 7-to-6 lead in the all-time series over UVA Wise.
Next up, UVA Wise travels to Erskine next Saturday to face the Fleet in what will be the first ever meeting between the two programs. Kickoff from Greenwood, S.C. is slated for 4 p.m.
